So as we enter the 8th generation of gaming, Sony and Nintendo start the console war off by bringing in the successors of the PlayStation Portable and the Nintendo DS. How do they stack up? Let's find out in my first VS battle:
3D Graphics VS Next Gen Graphics:
(NGP by the way was the working title of the Vita). So both consoles offer a different kind of graphics. The 3DS offers basic home console graphics and adds a 3D effect that you would only get with 3D glasses if it was still the 90s. That's not the case now as the 3D on the 3DS is glasses free and has a 3D slider so that you can adjust the effect. The Vita offers next gen graphics whilst on the move and while it is better than the PSP's graphics, we are still yet to experience a game (other than Uncharted: Golden Abyss) to really push the graphics to the limit. This round goes to the 3DS because its had a longer lifetime than the Vita currently.
StreetPass VS Near:
While they are both different, the one thing they have in common is that, you would need to go out for a walk and come back. This then allows both consoles to communicate with other consoles to retrieve information. StreetPass (used on the 3DS) is a service that will allow 3DS games to get information from other 3DS consoles to be used in the game. An example of this is in the Mii Plaza where a Mii from someones 3DS will appear and will give you a new puzzle piece for the puzzle mini game and will assist in the StreetPass Quest as well. With near, Vita owners will allow themselves to find each other and to also discover new games and download content for their own games. This round will be based on what you can actually do with each service and while StreetPass offers things to go into your current games, near can help you discover new games and downloadable content. This round goes to the Vita.
PlayStation Store VS Nintendo eShop:
Now comes the online shops. On the Nintendo eShop (currently), you can download virtual console games from NES, SNES and the GameBoy series, apps made by Nintendo, Videos (with films from Paramount, Warner Bros and Disney coming in the future), DSiWare games, Classic games with a 3D reboot and brand new 3D games that can be downloaded. The shop also gives you information on retail games as well. The PlayStation Shop has had more of a longer run than the eShop as it was seen on the PSP and PS3 before the Vita. Anyway, the PS Store offers films, TV episodes, DLC for games, downloadble games and retail game available for download as an alternative to going on the High Street. PS Store wins this round, even though the eShop is slowly offering other things as well as games.
Vita Design VS 3DS Design:
So both consoles have some similarity to their predecessors, but despite this, there are some significant differences. The 3DS to begin with, features what the DS had (d-pad, A B X Y L and R buttons, Start and Select Buttons etc.) and also features a flat thumbstick and the home button that was first introduced on the Wii. It also has a slightly wider top screen than that of the DS which shows the 3D image in the games and it also has a 3D slider to adjust the 3Dness of the console along with 2 cameras which can produce 3D videos and photos. It also has a notification light which in a way is new and thanks to StreetPass, it has its own on-board and free built in Wi-Fi for gathering information from other devices. Other than those, it basically looks like a DS but with the extra features just mentioned, added for a better experience. The Vita looks like the PSP but has been mostly modified to give you a bigger and wider screen, two thumbsticks, a front and rear touch screen, a very powerful camera and the usual PlayStation controls (d-pad, X Square O and triangle buttons and the PS button). Unlike the 3DS, the Vita can be bought with wi-fi and 3G or just wi-fi and it will use nearby wi-fi signals to pick up any data from other consoles. I'd say the 3DS wins this round because, while it has limited stuff on it compared to the Vita, and you don't have to pay for anything extra and you'll immediately get StreetPass things the minute you go somewhere busy so the 3DS wins round 4.
So now that its now a tie between both consoles, this next round will decide the winner so away we go.
Vita Games and Launch VS 3DS Games and Launch:
Now both consoles were released nearly exactly a year apart with the 3DS first followed by the Vita sometime later. The 3DS's launch started with only 23 games for it (3 being first party and the rest being third party). At the launch, only a handful of games were great (Pilotwings Resort and Super Street Fighter 4: 3D Edition) while the rest were not so great. It was a very bad launch so much so, it caused Nintendo to do a price drop for the device a few months later and allow gamers who got the device at launch to get 20 free Virtual Console games before their release in the eShop (this however only applied to Club Nintendo members). However as 2011 went on, bigger and better games were made which included Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart 7, a reboot of the 64 classics Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Star Fox 64 and an exclusive Tekken game which featured both a game and a 3D film. The Vita had 35 launch games (12 being made by Sony and its developers) and significantly had a better launch than the 3DS with the likes of Uncharted, MotorStorm, ModNation and new IP Little Deviants taking the Vita to the next level. However the Vita has only been around for a short period of time so we can expect more games later on this year. This round goes to the Vita because of its launch having a better response than the 3DS and the promise of more games to come for it over the coming months.
So the Vita wins the portable gaming war of the 8th generation. Good work Sony!!!
UPDATE: wow 200 views. Thanks guys and yes, I will be making more of these in the future.
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